BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A couple of teachers and a group of students launched a protest at the Western entrance of the Basseterre High School (BHS) compound this morning (Oct. 21), demanding that the environmental concerns there, the health of the students and teachers and the students’ education be taken more seriously.
For more than a year now, complaints of respiratory illnesses, rashes, headaches etc. have been made by both students and teachers who believe that the common cause was the BHS environment.
One two occasions, the school was closed because of the concerns and a number of tests were conducted and reports produced by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Caribbean Research Institute (CARIRI).
After clean-ups and checks were made, the school was deemed inhabitable and was opened at the beginning of the school year in September. However, according to reports that have reached the media including SKNVibes, the same symptoms have resurfaced and conditions at the learning institution are not necessarily conducive to proper learning.
One of the protesting students who was interviewed by SKNVibes said her learning is being affected by the BHS environment situation.
“It is affecting my learning. Different teachers are not coming to class because they are on sick leave and so on. So it doesn’t make sense. We have to protest because we want to learn and CXC is coming up for us and our SBAs are not getting done…”
Another accused the Ministry of Education of not doing enough to address the issue.
“I don’t think the Ministry is handling the situation well. If they cared about our learning, they would get us out this school. I am calling for them to find a place for us to go.”
One of the few teachers participating in the protest said she is taking a stand for both teachers and students. Her suggestion of a remedy is that a new location be found and the school body be transferred there.
“It is time that we get some action. Everybody is too laid back and too complacent. There is fixing, fixing, still in the same environment and I am not seeing any improvement in the students’ conditions. And what is really troubling is the first formers are getting sick now with rashes and headaches… We have so many teachers out, sometimes only one teacher on a block and it is very, very frustrating. Relocate us and put us on a new compound. Get us out of it, give the place time to breathe, treat the soil, fix up the area and then retest and if possible, put us back in.”
Another student begged to “take the politics out of this” while a Second Former informed that the Emergency Medical Services visits the BHS regularly to collect students who would have fallen ill there.
“People keep on getting sick especially on this side (Western Campus). Ever-so-often, an ambulance is up the school for someone who fainted or someone who feels sick. Enough is not being done. I think they need to break down the school and build it over.
A male student also expressed himself on the issue. He said his greatest fear is that if something comprehensive is not done soon, the students and teachers of the BHS would be “condemned”.
“We are out here because we are tired of the situation and we are hoping they would take us more seriously because it is obvious that we are not making all of this up. We are just out here trying to show that we are tired of this… Our education is going down the drain because of this and if they can’t see that we need to stand in the situation soon, then I fear that we would be condemned…”
The protest lasted an approximate hour.
Efforts to contact Minister of Education the Hon. Nigel Carty about this latest development have proven futile.
